This game, looking at it from the team wise was almost the same as the previous three articles I wrote up. This game saw the seven seeded Vanderbilt Commodores taking on the two seeded Florida Gators (who are also ranked 17th in the nation.) Before the third matchup of the season, the Commodores actually defeated the Gators in both games for the upsets as Florida is clearly the better team. So coming into this game, I knew that Florida would be out for revenge because they knew Vandy has their numbers.
The Commodores beat the Gators for the third time this season and second in SEVEN days. First-year coach Bryce Drew has Vanderbilt in the semifinals for the first time since 2013. Tonight’s win should also push his Commodores firmly into the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year.
Vanderbilt played a very sound first half which led them to a 33-28 lead going into the halftime break. But the Gators didn’t get down at all and fought back from an eight-point deficit to force overtime thanks to their star KeVaughn Allen, who made a tying 3 with 1:42 left. The Gators had the ball and a chance to win with the game tied at 58 but missed two shots in the final seconds of regulation.
The Commodores were actually up by eight a couple times in the game, with the last one coming with 3:27 left in the game. The Gators, who lost the regular-season series by a combined four points, tied it up with eight straight points, with Allen’s 3 helping force overtime.
Then when OT started, that’s when the Commodores took complete control. Vanderbilt scored the first SEVEN points of OT (of either team), with LaChance’s jumper with 4:02 to go putting the Commodores ahead for good. After Vandy scored their seven points, the Gators were down and out and never had a chance to come back at all.
KeVaughn Allen and Kasey Hill each finished with 16 points for Florida and the Gators missed out on what would have been their first trip to the semifinals since 2014.
The SEC’s best 3-point shooters, fresh off beating Texas A& M for a third time this season as well, had the advantage from beyond the three-point line versus the Gators. The Commodores, who matched a season low with only five made 3s against the Gators last Saturday, went 11 of 27 (40.7 percent) from behind the arch compared to just 6 of 23 (26.1 percent) by Florida.
Big Picture:
The Commodores were led by everyone who started the game tonight as it was a total team win. Three out of their five starters scored in double digits with 10+ points. They were led by Ryan LaChance who tallied 18 points, Jeff Roberson who recorded 16 points, and Luke Kornet who added 12 points as well. Vandy’s bench also outscored Florida’s bench 19-13. The Commodores also had thier shooting sleves on tonight as they shot 43% compared to the poorly 34% by the Gators. All around Vandy deserved this win as they outpreformed Florida in almost every category.
